3. One Dance, One Night
Chapter 3
One Dance, One Night
W hile Brinley was gawking at the luxury apartment her mystery alpha described as a hotel suite, the man himself had taken the opportunity to put on some soft, rhythmic music. By the time she turned her gaze away from the multiple rooms with possibly leather furniture and that glimpse of a massive bed she hadn’t meant to see, he was striding toward her again.
Her mouth watered and a fresh pulse of desire washed through her. He’d also shed his suitcoat. The deep green fabric of the button-down he wore was stretched just well enough across his broad torso so as to emphasize his strong physique, but in no way did it appear about to spontaneously pop open. She refused to acknowledge the part of her that felt that was a damn shame.
But that more impulsive, carnal voice was followed by the even less desirable voice of self-doubt. What could a man—an alpha, no less—so clearly well off and so handsome want with a female like her? He didn’t know she was an omega. She was almost positive. So to him, she was just an ordinary human with too much body weight. Yes, it was somewhat proportioned so as to give her a nice hourglass shape, and she knew she had large boobs. But if he wasn’t just looking for a quick and dirty fuck, then what was the point of all this?
His lips dipped into a frown and suddenly he was touching her again, his finger curled under her chin. “Even seeing only half of your face, I can tell something’s upsetting you. What is it?”
Her heart did not flutter at the concern in his words or the careful way he avoided caging her in. Most definitely not at his nearness, and the quickly rising intensity of his natural scent already beginning to surround her.
She hadn’t factored that into her decision. Her thoughts had been too scrambled to consider either of their scents, or the fact that the private rooms most likely did not have the odor diffusors that had aided her down in the ballroom.
Brinley licked her lips and shoved that concern aside for later. She still had the help of her lotion. With her own natural scent so thoroughly muted, he was that much more likely to become convinced of her human blood. Which rounded her back to the confusion and disappointment she hadn’t been prepared to feel.
A whine built up in her throat and she barely caught it in time to bite it back. Do. Not. Whine. That was one tell-tale trait of her nature she’d had to learn to control the hard way, as best she could.
She dug up her voice and said, “Sorry. It was just a moment. I’m okay.”
The part of his expression she could see was visibly unconvinced. “If you’ve changed your mind…”
Brinley pulled his hand from her face and held it between both of hers, her clutch already resting on a small table close to the door. Easy to remember later. “No,” she said. “Honestly? I just can’t fully understand why the man in front of me would be interested in wasting his evening with a woman like me.” It made her a little uncomfortable to speak that insecurity to a stranger, but she felt like she was deceiving him enough as it was.
“A woman like you?” He repeated the words slowly, carefully, before promptly tugging her into his chest and winding his other arm around her back. “What, precisely, do you think is so inadequate about yourself?” He held her tightly to him, moved her hands to his chest, and slipped that hand free to cup her jaw again. With that grip he tipped her head back, catching her surely widened gaze. “It’s true, I don’t know your background. I don’t know your face. But I can see you are beautiful. All evening, I’ve watched you treat strangers with kindness even when they don’t greet you the same. I’ve watched you take care to mind your surroundings, keeping hold of your handbag and your drink, making rational judgments as to which people not to approach at all. Do you think I care that you won your way into tonight’s party?”
His words were gruff, spoken more vehemently than he’d directly addressed her all night. That was probably the only reason she heard them over the heart-pounding recognition of precisely what was pressing into her belly. She wasn’t stupid. She just … she hadn’t expected him to become so bold about it, she supposed.
He stroked his thumb under her chin. “Well?”
Crap. Brinley swallowed and compulsively curled her fingers into his shirt. “Not so much that,” she admitted, too quietly. “I’m … you know.” She dropped her gaze as much as his physical hold allowed. “I’m fat.” And normally she was not one to get in her head about that, but this man was so in shape she couldn’t help but feel self-conscious.
He growled low, released her face entirely in order to loop that arm around her shoulders, and the next thing she knew his mouth was beside her ear. “It’s taking everything in me to be gentleman enough not to tackle you to the goddamn floor and fuck you until the sun comes up. But if you call yourself fat one more time, so help me, that is precisely what I will do.”
The breath stuttered out of her as she attempted to process his declaration.
No man had ever actually spoken to her like that. She’d only ever read that sort of pure alpha male nonsense in books.
His entire chest vibrated with a low, rumbling growl. “Damn, you smell better than I’d hoped,” he said on a groan.
Brinley’s eyes flew wide and panic seized her heart for an instant. No! She’d gotten swept up in the moment! His face was right over her stupid scent glands. After hours in heels and the extra tension of an alpha’s nearness, she’d definitely done enough sweating to threaten the efficacy of her lotion at such minimal distance. All she could think to do was push at his chest and pray he’d ease up.
She managed to breathe again when he did, without resistance.
She plastered a smile on her lips. “What about that dance?” It was more dangerous now than it had been when she’d agreed to it originally, but she did also want to. Since it was him. As irrational and stupid as that was.
He seemed to relax, took another step back, and held out his hand. “May I have this dance, my lady?”
Brinley choked on a laugh and rolled her eyes. “Gee, I don’t know. I’m kinda busy.”
His grin widened. “I’ll have my staff clear your schedule.”
She balked at the unexpected retort, burst into a short fit of giggling laughter, and finally accepted his hand. “Fine, fine. If you’re that desperate.” She meant the words as a joke, of course, but he swiftly pulled her in close again even as he moved another step backward into the heart of the space.
His voice was lower and huskier when he spoke again, his other hand landing on her hip. “I’m afraid I am.”
She swallowed hard and did her best not to overreact to that. Or to the heat of his steady hand on her hip. Or to the intensity of his mostly green gaze as he stared back at her.
A moment later, the alpha whose name she still didn’t know began to move them. He guided her gently, easily in small steps backward and forward. They moved with an increasing pace, the music the only sound competing with her heartbeat and their hips rocking in synchronized rhythm. He eased her out, spun her in a tight circle, and pulled her in close again with her back to his chest. His erection bumped against her ass and she sank her teeth into her lip to keep herself from whimpering.
They continued to sway as the song rolled into another. His fingers slid along her arms when he spun her to face him again. He settled both hands over her back this time, holding her dangerously close. She curled her arms around his shoulders anyway.
“I do want you,” he admitted after another minute, his voice almost rough with audible desire.
Brinley stared up at him. She could feel herself tense, but she wasn’t sure if it was with concern or anticipation. Did she want him, or was that a chemical reaction of their hormones? No. Her suppressants weren’t expired and she knew it. Just as she knew that the desire searing through her was more dangerous than anything she’d felt before. She swallowed hard. “You said I could leave if I chose to.”
He inclined his head. “You still can. I meant what I said. I won’t force you.”
All she could smell was him with a backdrop of leather. His touch was hot and delightfully heavy, and she’d never imagined an alpha could be so considerate while also so consumed with strong emotion. He intrigued her. That doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. What remained of her rational self knew it wasn’t. But would she ever get a better opportunity? I must have lost my mind. It might not be possible, even, to take that step without revealing her secret to him. And yet that awareness wasn’t enough to make her pull away.
Brinley curled her arms tighter, letting her fingers graze the base of his neck. It was a brazen move—or it would be, if he knew she was an omega. She licked her lips. “Just one night, then?”
A vibrating rumble rolled through him and he tugged her up to his chest. He raised one hand up to settle possessively over her nape. “I can’t promise one will satisfy me. But we’ll start with that.” Before she could respond, he dipped his head and crushed his lips to hers.
She pressed herself tighter to him, up on her bare toes, and their masks slid sideways against each other.
The kiss broke, her lips lifted in a breathless laugh.
He growled low, released her neck, and ripped the wolf mask away from his face without any warning. And just like that, the anonymity was gone. He wasn’t a mysterious stranger.
Brinley squeaked, startled. Holy gods. She shouldn’t have been surprised that she recognized his face, but she was. She hadn’t been prepared. He wasn’t a big-name celebrity by any means, but he wasn’t no one, either. Despite that she’d spent the entire evening well aware of her lower social status than at least the majority of her fellow partygoers, suddenly understanding that difference was shocking.
“Party’s over,” Lennox Mitchell grunted as he cupped her face again. He offered nothing else before promptly sealing his lips to hers once more.
This time his tongue pushed its way inside her mouth, demanding and taking, and Brinley’s briefly renewed sense of awareness scattered. His kiss was intense, merciless, and it was only a matter of seconds before her knees turned to Jello. The man could kiss . And while he made love to her mouth, his hands roved over her body. He took a double-fisted grip of her ass and squeezed as he rocked his own hips forward, grinding their pelvises together.
She wasn’t even sure which of them groaned louder.
The next several minutes passed in a blur of wet, sensual kisses interspersed between sliding fabric and sweeping, lingering touches. She didn’t consciously realize they’d left the sitting room until she landed on her back, something delightfully sharp pricking at one nipple while her other breast molded into the firm grip of the man above her. She could feel his skin on hers. She could feel the enticing, intimidating weight of his length over her thigh. But she was too lost in the way he laved at her breast, the way his day-old beard scraped at her usually untouched skin, to care about anything else.
He switched from one to the other with a fluid movement, running his tongue underneath and around her breast before sucking the nipple into his mouth. He let his teeth scrape the skin as he sucked, tongue teasing the already taut bud.
Brinley moaned loud and arched into him, as if he could take more into his mouth. Her body ached with need.
Lennox lifted his gaze to her before popping off her chest. He held her stare in silence for a beat, then lowered himself down and hooked her knees over his arms. The movement pulled her legs further apart, exposing her fully to him.
She wasn’t sure if the next wave of heat that pulsed through her was desire or embarrassment. A bit of both, probably.
Lennox rumbled and gave her thighs a squeeze. “Since you can’t see you the way I can,” he said, his voice thick and coarse. “Let me fucking show you.” Before she could question the words, he dropped down again—with his face buried in her literally dripping center.
Brinley gasped in surprise, and again, more sharply, at the first stroke of his tongue. She barely heard his deep-throated groan. Her eyes rolled back in her head as his hands dragged up her thighs to grip her hips, holding her in place and anchoring himself as he began … feasting. On her.
The sensation was unlike anything she’d experienced before. He worked his whole mouth over her, she even felt his nose brushing against her clit as he angled his head to lick deeper. The way the scruff of beard on his jaw scraped along her most sensitive skin only heightened everything. She squirmed, writhing and panting, her fingers clawing at the sheets as he penetrated her with his tongue. Repeatedly. As if he were lapping her up.
Her eyes flew open wide. Oh, gods…
Lennox ripped his head away with a growling exhale, pushing to his knees. The motion spread her legs out to the sides, leaving her intimately and almost shamefully exposed. His eyes were brighter than before, the green more prevalent, and his chest heaved. “Omega? You’re an omega ?”
Brinley sucked in a breath, her heart hammering and her body burning. She wanted to run and to impale herself on him in equal measure. It was a horrendously confusing feeling. “I…” What was she supposed to say? No. I should have said no, back in the ballroom. But then she never would have known even this. She licked her lips. “Is that a problem?”
He growled again and climbed over her, snatching up her arms by the wrists to hold them over her head. With their chests pressed together and his face hovering above hers, Lennox said, “It probably should be.”
She blinked, confused, but then he was kissing her again.
The kiss was rough, demanding, like their first had been. Except this time she could taste herself mixed in with him with every stroke of his tongue, and the combination drew a whine from deep in her chest. This time, she didn’t bother fighting it.
He growled in response, released her wrists, and without breaking the kiss he reached down to hook her legs up onto his hips. He sucked on her tongue as he rocked his length over her slit. His hands locked onto her hips and he sank inside her.
Brinley broke the kiss, her head falling back as a keening cry escaped her. She’d had sex before. She even had one of those supposedly fantasy toys with non-human structure, in an attempt to satisfy her biological need for a knot. But Lennox fit her so much better.
“ Fuck ,” Lennox groaned, his head bowed over her. His hands dragged up her sides, his touch somehow both rough and scintillating, until he had her arms pinned again. This time with their fingers thoroughly threaded together. He licked his way up her neck until he reached her ear, hips continuing to piston in and out of her. His hot breath rushed over her newly moistened skin as his voice vibrated through her. “You fit me like you were fucking made for me, baby.”
She arched her back beneath him, trying to take him somehow deeper. Her nails dug into his hands; her ankles locked tight over his ass. An ass she absently hoped to drool over in the near future. “S-so good, alpha…”
He nipped at her earlobe. “Come at your leisure, baby. I want to feel your sopping pussy squeeze my cock.” He added the wild words with a new roll of his hips, providing extra friction to her clit.
Stars burst behind Brinley’s eyes as electric heat tore through her. She thought she might have heard herself scream. She definitely felt Lennox relax his hold on her hands in favor of shifting his weight to begin trailing kisses across her chest. He’d stopped thrusting in favor of grinding with her, but he was still hard and hot inside her. And above her. He was everywhere, and for as much as that should have frightened her, she found it only made her yearn for more.
Brinley slipped a hand into his dark hair, letting herself enjoy the feel of it before she gave a light tug.
Lennox ground hard into her and lifted his head. “Ready for more, omega?”
I should leave. She pulled her lip between her teeth and nodded. It was too late, anyway.
He leaned up to kiss her, letting it build and matching the pace of his thrusts with the intensity of the kiss. Then he flipped them over, landing her on top, and met her startled eyes with a sinfully wicked smirk. “You want my knot, don’t you? So fucking take it. Ride my cock until you’re so goddamn wet it slips right in.” He reached up, behind her, and her hair cascaded down her back. She felt his deep groan of approval. “Let me see you in ecstasy, baby.”
She had definitely not expected this from the man she’d met in the party. But she liked it. She liked it a lot. Almost as much as she liked his undeniable desire as he looked at her while she straddled him—fully naked, not the most elegant pose, imperfect body exposed. Brinley curled her nails into his sculpted, hair-dusted chest. “Yes, alpha,” she said before deliberately canting her hips forward.
Lennox laid his hands on her thighs and squeezed as he groaned. “Good girl.”
Brinley whimpered even as she began bouncing and rocking over him. The way he slid against her inner walls felt amazing, but she definitely wanted more. She needed that knot that had swollen up at the base of his cock. And his hands on her skin. So she grabbed his hands and pulled, raising them to her boobs. “Please, touch me, alpha,” she begged as she picked up her rhythm. She could feel it nudging at her now.
He required no encouragement, catching her breasts in his hands and digging his fingers in as he had before. He tweaked her nipples as she moved over him and she felt another orgasm threaten.
Brinley adjusted her angle and sank onto him again, digging her hips against his as much as she was able. And she finally felt it. A stretch unlike any she’d felt before. It stung for a moment, but the sharpness was immediately followed by a fulfillment so overwhelming that her entire being latched onto it.
Lennox abandoned her chest in favor of wrapping his arms around her and tugging her close as he shot upright, his own roar of release chasing hers into the air.
It was several seconds before they tumbled back onto the mattress, and Lennox lifted a hand to tangle it into her loosened hair. She felt his fingers brush against the string of her somewhat skewed, definitely sweaty mask. “Stay the night with me.”
The breath faltered in her chest and Brinley was glad he couldn’t see her eyes. Gladder yet she had a good excuse for taking a moment with her response. “One night was our agreement,” she finally whispered. Her fingers skimmed up the muscle she could reach, settling on his shoulder. “But I have to work tomorrow, so I’ll have to leave early.”
He grunted and his arms folded tight around her. Somehow, the motion made her acutely aware of the still-bulging appendage trapped inside her. Knots really were an amazing, almost awkward, but nonetheless fantastic thing. Though she imagined sitting on it this way would be more enjoyable if she were in heat.
Lennox lowered his head to press a kiss to her hair. “Are you sore?”
A smile tipped her lips and Brinley let her eyes drift close. “A little. I … I’ve never … been with an alpha before.” It was probably a dumb thing, but she wanted him to know that much.
He rumbled in response and held her tighter.